Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Job Interviews

There are many ways you can prepare for a job interview.  Here are a few tips that are likely familiar and common sense.  Dress in a professional manner, even if your interview is conducted over the phone or a webcam.  On the other hand, make sure to dress in clothes in which you feel comfortable so you don't seem awkward.  Remember to smile.  A smile communicates friendliness and enthusiasm and makes you a more interested/interesting person.  This is true even for phone interviews.  Most importantly, mentally prepare responses to various questions and be able to deliver those responses in a natural, seemingly unrehearsed manner.

In the next few days MGB hopes to receive sample questions from some of our graduating students.  (Congratulations to all of you!)  Please leave a comment below with any interview advice you may have, especially common questions to expect or even those weird curveball questions that you have been asked.

1 comment:

  1. From my (good and bad) experience, if you got invited for an on-site interview, most important thing: Prepare your job talk (really) well. Practice the talk to your advisor. Don't exceed time limit. Think about various possible scenarios: e.g. if asked many questions during the talk, what slides to skip to save time. Other things: use a laser pointer, eye contact, speak clearly, arrive 10-15 mins early to set up.

    Before a face-to-face interview, learn something about each interviewer (what is his/her background and research interest). During interview, stress both depth and breadth of your research.

    Several sample questions: (what I was actually asked)

    Tell me something about this paper/project(on your CV).

    How did you get interested in your research topic?

    Have you thought about applications (on some other disciplines) of your research? (applicable to AMCS students especially)

    Do you have any question for us?

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